No Additional Coupling for Scotland

Scotland has been denied their request to use some of the rest of the UK ‘s coupled allowance.  In a letter to the Scottish Government Commissioner Ciolos states the move is not permitted under EU regulations.  The Scottish Government, supported by NFU Scotland (NFUS), had requested a 5% increase in the coupling rate to enable greater flexibility and address the problems of delivering a flat rate area payment over Scotland’s diverse Rough Grazing area.

Commissioner Ciolos had previously agreed the move in a meeting with Richard Lochhead and UK Minister George Eustice.  However has now told Scottish MEP George Lyon that EU rules did not permit the increase as the UK had chosen to implement separate arrangements in each country and so have to comply with the EU rules as if they were individual countries.  Both the Scottish Government and NFUS have reacted angrily to the announcement with NFUS requesting an immediate and formal meeting with the Commissioner.

This is likely to mean that coupled payments are limited to the beef herd and will not be extended to beef animals from the dairy herd, the sheep flock, or a wider ‘grazing supplement’.